Medical research scientist vs postdoctoral scholar

The differences between medical research scientists and postdoctoral scholars can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a medical research scientist and a postdoctoral scholar. Additionally, a medical research scientist has an average salary of $78,125, which is higher than the $57,587 average annual salary of a postdoctoral scholar.

The top three skills for a medical research scientist include PCR, research findings and GMP. The most important skills for a postdoctoral scholar are chemistry, python, and patients.

Medical research scientist vs postdoctoral scholar overview

	Medical Research Scientist	Postdoctoral Scholar
Yearly salary	$78,125	$57,587
Hourly rate	$37.56	$27.69
Growth rate	17%	17%
Number of jobs	129,653	18,983
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 51%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	4	4

Medical research scientist vs postdoctoral scholar salary

Medical research scientists and postdoctoral scholars have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Medical Research Scientist	Postdoctoral Scholar
Average salary	$78,125	$57,587
Salary range	Between $47,000 And $129,000	Between $41,000 And $79,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Rhode Island	California
Best paying company	Oak Ridge National Laboratory	Microsoft
Best paying industry	Pharmaceutical	Technology

Differences between medical research scientist and postdoctoral scholar education

There are a few differences between a medical research scientist and a postdoctoral scholar in terms of educational background:

	Medical Research Scientist	Postdoctoral Scholar
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 51%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Most common major	Biology	Chemistry
Most common college	University of Southern California	Duke University

Medical research scientist vs postdoctoral scholar demographics

Here are the differences between medical research scientists' and postdoctoral scholars' demographics:

	Medical Research Scientist	Postdoctoral Scholar
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 40.0% Female, 60.0%	Male, 53.0% Female, 47.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.3% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.5% Asian, 27.2% White, 52.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%	Black or African American, 6.5% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.7% Asian, 26.3% White, 53.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between medical research scientist and postdoctoral scholar duties and responsibilities

Medical research scientist example responsibilities.

Manage sample inventory via in-house laboratory information management system (LIMS) and implement additional systems for sample and chemical organization.
Experience working in a GMP regulate environment.
Experience with``firefight"responses and working with FDA.
Mouse colony maintenance are paramount, mouse genotyping, data organization.
Evaluate total tissue proteins and serum responses by ELISA, fluorescent and clotting assays.
Design and execute experiments to test the anti-allergic effect of CMP against grass, tree and ragweed pollen allergies.

Postdoctoral scholar example responsibilities.

Lead community-based health projects on and off campus as an Oslerian student scholar.
Lead the in-vitro biophysical and biochemical characterization of homologous recombination and investigate structure-function effects of mutant enzymes.
Utilize basic organic and inorganic chemistry techniques including polymer synthesis and NMR spectroscopy.
Train graduate students on molecular biology techniques- DNA and RNA extraction and qPCR.
Contribute to successful NIH grant proposals.
Develop HPLC analysis method for skin folate.

Medical research scientist vs postdoctoral scholar skills

Common medical research scientist skills

PCR, 21%
Research Findings, 20%
GMP, 17%
Genotyping, 15%
Elisa, 13%
Extraction, 7%

Common postdoctoral scholar skills

Chemistry, 10%
Python, 8%
Patients, 6%
Data Analysis, 6%
NIH, 5%
C++, 5%

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Medical Research Scientist
Medical Research Scientist vs Postdoctoral Scholar

Updated January 8, 2025

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